BAGUIO CITY – Baguio will host anew the annual Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) meet next year, two years after it last hosted the event.
“We will host it again,” city sports coordinator Gaudencio Gonzales told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
Baguio hosted the event for three straight years from 2015-2017, until Abra, boasting of its new rubberized track, took over in 2018 and Apayao in February this year after its sports facilities had been refurbished and new tartan tracks installed.
Baguio will have something to crow about when it will host the biggest sports meet that attracts thousands of student-athletes from the six provinces and two cities of the Cordillera (Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province and Ifugao and Tabuk City and Baguio).
First is its recent completion of the concrete area fronting the swimming pool as courts for basketball, volleyball and other events that need courts.
Last October 31, the city completed the rehabilitation of the swimming pool with new roofing for the pools and the gallery, a heating equipment, standardized pool, and new shower rooms.
“We are quite nearing our projected goal for the Athletic bowl complex with amenities that could be of a good standard,” Gonzales said.
Other local government units in the Cordillera failed to signify their intention to host the sports meet which prompted the city to take over since “we are willing to do so”, Gonzales said.
Baguio hosted the event in 2015 right after the completion of the athletic bowl upgrade and the introduction of the tartan track.
The Department of Education – Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) is now seeking a host for the meet’s staging in 2021 and 2022 as well.
DepEd – CAR wanted to identify the host early to ensure a well-prepared venue and billeting of schools for athletes.
The Dep-Ed CAR said bidders should ensure they have the facility at par with international standards for the various sports events that are accessible and free to the public.
Other requirements include the availability of basic services such as medical and dental, communications, water, and electric power supply and the peace and order and availability of billeting for the athletes and the delegates.
The LGU should also be financially capable of hosting the meet and must construct sports facilities if needed. (PNA)
